NBA roundup: James reportedly named MVP

The NBA will name Miami Heat star LeBron James the league MVP, ESPN reported Friday, citing league sources.

It will be James' fourth MVP honor. He also won it last year.

Only Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain have also won the award at least four times.

League commissioner David Stern will present the MVP trophy to James in Miami on Sunday, a day before the Heat begin their second round playoff series against either the Brooklyn Nets or Chicago Bulls.

James averaged 26.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 1.7 steals and one block in 76 regular season games. He also shot a career-best 56.6 percent from the field and 40.6 percent from 3-point range.

---Flip Saunders has returned to the Minnesota Timberwolves, who officially named Saunders as its president of basketball operations and a minority owner.

Saunders coached the Timberwolves and was their general manager from 1995-2005. Now he is in charge of all basketball-related duties.

---Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant is trying to stop his mother from selling off memorabilia from earlier in his career.

After Bryant's lawyers ordered New Jersey-based Goldin Auctions to cease-and-desist selling off the items, the online auction house filed a lawsuit against Bryant, according to CSN Philly.

Pamela Bryant sold the items to Goldin Auctions. Kobe Bryant claims that his mother does not have the right to sell the items, but she contends in the lawsuit that he told her years ago that he does not want them.

---Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng tweeted that the viral flu that forced him to miss Game 6 on Thursday got worse on Friday, causing him to make another trip to the emergency room, ESPNChicago.com reported. It remains uncertain whether he will play in Saturday's Game 7 against the Brooklyn Nets.

Also, Bulls said guard Kirk Hinrich is questionable for Game 7 because of a bruised left calf. Hee will be a game-time decision.

---Houston Rockets guard Jeremy Lin is scheduled to play in Game 6 against the Oklahoma City Thunderon Friday night.

Lin missed the past two games with a right chest contusion. He is typically a starter, but is expected to come off the bench on Friday.

---Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin went through a light workout Friday morning, and it will be a game-time decision as to whether he plays in Friday's game 6 against the Memphis Grizzlies, ESPNLosAngeles.com reported.

Griffin suffered a high right-ankle sprain Monday in practice.

---Fired Timberwolves executive David Kahn told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that forward Kevin Love needs to earn back the respect of his teammates.

Kahn was let go as the team's president of basketball operations on Thursday. Kahn said he thinks Love, who missed most of the season with two hand injuries and knee problems, needs to step up and be more of a leader.

---Former Utah Jazz star Karl Malone told a San Francisco Bay Area radio station that he is proud of Jason Collins for coming out.

"Let's just cut through the skinny ... I'm proud of the young man," Malone told 95.7 FM on Thursday. "Isn't it about time that we stopped wasting so much time on what a person prefers?"